Multiple sucker-rod socket



A. H. NEiLSON.

MULTIPLE SUCKER ROD SOCKET.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1920. 1,382,602.

Patented June 21, 1921;

ATTORNEYS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- INVENTOR Aral/630w,

WITNESSES A. H. NEILSON.

MULTIPLE SUCKER ROD SOCKET.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE' 29. IBZQ.

Patented June 21, 19.21.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- HIIIH I INVENTOR .Zl .-J[..7Ve LL90 w.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES ALBERT H. NEILSON, OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

MULTIPLE SUCKER-ROD SOCKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

Application filed June 29, 1920. Serial No. 392,701.

To all 20 7mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. NEILSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tulsa, in the county of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Multiple Sucker- Rod Sockets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in sucker rod sockets, and it consists in the constructions, combinations and arrangements herein described and claimed.

One of the foremost objects of the invention is to provide a socket having grippers or slips with the teeth on the inside disposed on a continuous taper from the entrance to the upper end, so as to grip any size of object within the compass of the socket, re-

gardless of whether that object is the round, square or irregularly shaped part of a sucker rod or the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide a socket with slips arranged to catch and grip any part of a sucker rod which may be exposed thereto, regardless of the angle or position such part may assume in the well casing, or whether such part has become burred or mushroomed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and eflicient means for holding the plurality of slips together in the socket, so all must move as one, and that all danger of causing the slips to fall out by the dislodging of one by a sidewise blow, is eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a socket barrel of a peculiar co11- struction, but to which types of slips other than that herein disclosed, may be adapted.

it. further object of the invention is to provide a slip-retainer ring which may be employed in connection with the improved slips or with others of common construction, said ring in such cases adapting the slips of ordinary construction to .the barrel of peculiar construction, above mentioned.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a longitudinal section of the improved sucker rod socket, the head at the top being shown in elevation,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of the bottom of the socket, showing the slips in a substantially normal position and before the rod soclllzet is superposed on an object in the we Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the socket superposed on the broken and square end of a pump rod, the slips being illustrated as having ridden up on the downwardly tapering wall of the barrel,

Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line H oi Fig. 2, showing the slip-retainer ring in place,

Fig. 5 is an inverted perspective view of the slips separated from the barrel, showing how the retainer ring holds them in place,

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 2, showing how a protruding ring may be employed in connection with the tapering wall of the barrel, on slips which are straight-sided instead of taper-sided on the outside,

Fig. 7 is a detail horizontal section illustrating a modification wherein dowel pins are employed to hold the slips together,

Fig. 8 is a detail side elevation illustrating a further modification wherein a heavy coil spring is employed to hold the slips together,

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view showing how certain keys may be employed to hold the slips together.

Fig. 10 is a detail section showing how the keys in Fig. 9 interlock with the recesses of a companion slip,

Fig. 11 is a section illustrating how the retainer ring may be employed to adapt slips of a, common type to the improved barrel, and

Fig. 12 is a similar view showing how such ring may be held in place on the slips by means of screws instead of the grooves illustrated in Fig. 11.

It may be briefly stated that sockets such as herein disclosed, are used in fishing sucker rods out of oil well casings. These sucker rods come in sections twenty-five feet long, have a box at one end and a pin on the other.

Th box and pin are correspondingly threaded on the inside and outside respectively, so that the sucker rod sections may be screwed together. In the pumping operation, the box and pin between two of the sections may become unscrewed, or the sucker rod may break either along the rod portion or in the coupling at the box and pin,

Rod sockets of the types known at present are capable of gripping the protruding end of a rod socket, only with considerable diflieulty. Some require to be let down easily and given a turning motion before the teeth of the slips will take hold. There is no rod socket now in use, which will take hold of the square part of either a broken box or pin of a sucker rod. is common fault with other types of rod sockets is that when one of the slips is given a blow, such slips will ride up in the barrel of the socket and cause the others to fall out into the bottom of the tubing.

This is because no means, or at least no adequate means is provided to hold the slips together. Another common fault is that ordinary sockets will not readily find the end of a pump rod. All of the foregoing objectionable features are remedied in The improeed rod socket,

the general construction of which is well illustrated in Fig. 1. The barrel 1 is made of any suitable material, preferably steel tubing, in any length and corresponding diameter whatever. It is the manner of making the bore of the barrel, to which considerable importance is attached. This bore is beveled at 2 at the entrance of the socket, such bevel extending across the original thickness of the barrel. It forms a sharp edge which immediately enables the socket to find or direct the end of a pump rod into the upwardly and continuously tapering bore 3' of the slips 4:.

The bore of the barrel 1 is machined with an inverted taper 5 for approximately the first six inches of its length from the bevel 2, thereafter continuing straight from the point 6 where the inverted taper 5 leaves off, until the upper internally threaded end 7 is reached, into which the plug 8 of the head 9 is screwed. This head has a threaded pin, 10 to which a suitable connection may be crewed, to let the socket into the well casing.

Attention is now directed to the construction of the slips 4. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, there are three of these, which when fitted together, make a circular body which fits well in the inverted-taper bore 5 of the barrel. To this end the outer walls 11 are also tapered to correspond with and fit the bore 5. There is a groove 12 around the upper part of the slips, in which a suitable retainer ring 13 has occupancy. This ring holds the slips together when removed from the socket as in Fig. 5 and positively prevents separation of the slips while they are in the barrel.

It can be seen at once that a blow on any one of the slips could not possibly cause that slip to be displaced from the others so that such others might fall into the bottom of the tubing. It is also important to observe that the tapered bore 3 of the slips commences at an edge at the entrance, and continues in an unbroken or straight line to the small or upper end 14;. This bore is toothed at 15,

thereof when the socket is the teeth extending upwardly so as to more readily grip an object, such as the square broken end of the sucker rod P in Fig. 3.

The bevel 2 of the barrel 1 practically merges with the upwardly tapering bore 3 of the slips. A direct path for the end of a pump rod is therefore provided. In letting the socket down on the pump rod in Fig. 3, the end of the rod will naturally seat the narrowest part of the bore 3, and since the socket is let down with some force, theslips 4 are caused to move upwardly as indicated in Fig. 3, the mutually tapering walls riding upon each other so as to cause a slight separation of the upper end of the slips. There is not so much seperation between the lower ends of the slips.

This movement of the slips makes more room for the upper end of the pump rod.

1? ow when a pull is exerted on the socket,

the tendency of the pump rod P will be to draw away from the slips. But in view of the fact that the teeth 15 have already gotten a secure hold on the broken end, such hold will be greatly increased by the move ment of the slips over the downwardly tapering bore 5 of the barrel, which causes the teeth to grip the broken end tighter than ever. A wedge action causes the upper ends of the slipsto again close and secure ahold on the broken end of the pump rod which cannot be released until the surface is reached.

The modifications in Figs. 6 to 152 erally from the slips when assembled.

Here. the outer walls of the slips are made perfectly straight at 16 instead of on an inverted taper as at 11 in Fig. 2. The construction of the. barrel and its bore is pre cisely as before. The ring 13 performs the function ofthe tapered wall 11 of" the first form of slips. In both cases the ring is sutficiently loose in the peripheral groove to enable the slight expansion or separation of the slips on the initial upward movement presented to the end of a pump rod.

On the. reverse movement, that is to say,

when the socket draws. the rod out of the tubing, the ring 13 will ride down the bore 5 and. cause the contraction of the teeth of the sl ps on the sucker rod caught thereby. In Fig. 7, dowel pins 17 take the place of the rings in Figs. 2 and 6. These pins shape, and receives the rather heavy coil spring 18 which is also for the purpose of holding the slips together. In Fig. 9, keys 19 are suitably arranged on the various slips, so that a locking engagement may be had between the slips by virtue of the fitting of the keys 19 into correspondingly shaped sockets or recesses 20.

These keys are L-shaped, and so are the recesses 20. But the recesses must be deep enough, as shown in Fig. 10, to provide ample room for the entrance of the keys,whereupon by a slight relative downward movement of the slips having the recesses, causes the interlocking of the parts as the reader will readily understand without further description.

Fig. 11 illustrates the adaptation of a common slip formation 21 to the improved barrel construction described above. Ordinarily these slips 2]. have no holding means to keep them together in the barrel. It is proposed to cut a shallow groove 22 therein for the seating of a ring 28, somewhat on the order illustrated in Fig. 6.

This ring now cooperates with the downwardly tapering bore 5 in causing the contraction of the slips 21 when an upward pull is exerted on a caught pump rod. The disadvantage of the type of slip shown in Fig. 11 is that the toothed bore 2 1 is perfectly straight and not formed on an incline or taper as in the case of the bore 3 of the invcntion.

Fig.- 12 shows how the ring 23 may be affixed to the slips 21 by means of screws 25 or other fastening means. Those parts of the screws which enter the slips, have firm engagement therewith, but the openings in the ring 2 a should be made larger as indicated by the heavy outline, to produce sufficient looseness between the other parts to epable the separation and contraction of the ips.

In conclusion it is pointed out that the socket in Fig. 1 includes the ordinary spring 26 which is compressed on the upward move ment of the slips 4 as in Fig. 3. A plurality of parafiin holes 27 are drilled into the barrel 1 at any desired place. Such holes are usually drilled in the head 9. but since this head must sustain considerable weight, it is preferred to leave it solid so as not to destroy the strength thereof.

While the construction and arrangement of the improved sucker rod socket as herein described and claimed, is that of a generally preferred form. obviously modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. 'The combination in a socket, of a barrel with a downwardly tapering bore, slips in. said, bore, and. means loosely holding said slips together enabling a greater separation thereof at the top than elsewhere, when moved upwardly in said bore.

2. A socket, comprising a barrel with a bore flaring from the bottom, thereafter continuing uniformly to the upper edge past fine threads cut into the barrel beneath the bore; a plurality of slips tapering externally throughout to lit the flaring bore, having a toothed bore tapering uniformly througlr out from a fine edge at the bottom to grip any size object within the limits of the socket; and means supporting one slip upon the next, enabling greater separation of the slips at the top than elsewhere, when pushed upwardly in the flaring bore by an object to be gripped.

3. A socket comprising a barrel with a bore flaring from the bottom, a set of slips occupying said bore, and means extending from one slip to the next, preventing the dislocation of any slip, and suificiently loose to enable greater separation at the top than elsewhere when pushed upwardly in the flaring bore by an object to be gripped.

4. A socket, comprising a barrel with a bore flaring from the bottom, a set of slips in said bore, each with removed portions and means occupying said removed portions of the slips for mutually supporting them against dislocation, but enabling greater separation at the top than elsewhere, when an object is thrust thereinto.

A. socket, comprising a barrel with a bore flaring from the bottom, a set of slips shaped to fit said here, with a toothed bore tapering from the bottom, continuously to enable gripping any size object; and means embracing the slips letting them separate more at the top than elsewhere when an object is thrust into the tapering toothed bore.

6. A socket, comprising a barrel with a bore flaring from the bottom, a set of slips in said bore, each with removed portions and gripping means composed of separate members occupying said removed portions of the slips in which they fit, supporting the slips against dislocation when one is struck by an object to be gripped, yet readily separated from said removed portion when the gripping means is taken from the barrel.

'7. socket, comprising a plurality of slips with a toothed bore tapering from a full opening at the bottom, and with a recess formed in each one; and means for holding the slips together against dislocation while in a barrel, composed of separate members fitting the recesses.

8. In a socket, a plurality of slips with interlocking means, including complementary L shaped recesses and L-keys, fitted together to hold the slips, but sufliciently loose to permit slight radial movement.

ALBERT H. NEILSON. 

